Four members of Townsend's Finance Committee leave in protest

TOWNSEND -- Four of the seven members of the Townsend Finance Committee, including the chairman and vice chair, stepped down earlier this month over apparent frustration with the town.

One of those members, Chairman Don Klein, attributed his decision to the town's hiring process for a full-time town administrator. Earlier this month, the Board of Selectmen voted to enter into exclusive contract negotiations with current interim Town Administrator James Kreidler without interviewing any of the 20 other candidates who applied.

Nancy Rapoza wrote a brief letter on May 19 announcing her immediate resignation from the Finance Committee stating she is "unhappy with the direction Townsend is going in and feel(s) (she) can (be) more effective in other ways." At the bottom of the letter, fellow member Mary Letourneau and Vice Chair Gini King wrote by hand that they also resigned immediately.

Selectman Carolyn Smart, who is also the assistant town clerk, provided the Nashoba Valley Voice with a copy of that letter late last week. None of the three members who resigned could be reached for comment.

Furthermore, Klein asked not to be re-appointed to his position as chairman of the Finance Committee.

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His term was up at the end of the Annual Town Meeting earlier in May, but he requested Town Moderator John Barrett not to re-appoint him -- meaning Klein effectively asked to leave the committee.

However, Klein will remain on board either through the end of June or until a replacement for his position is found. He continued in his duties at Tuesday's Finance Committee meeting, where he and the remaining three members addressed normal business.

Klein said he had been considering leaving the committee, but the last straw came when selectmen voted May 10 to negotiate a full-time job with Kreidler. Klein decided that night -- before the other three Finance Committee members tendered their resignations -- that he would leave his position.

"That was enough for me," he said Tuesday. "I was taken aback."

He believes a committee should have been formed to look at several candidates first, and he remembers sitting on at least one such committee himself. The Board of Selectmen's method, he said, was lacking in depth and thoroughness, and Klein decided he wanted no part of it going forward.

"You really can't tell from a resume what the person has to offer," he said. "It's really a three-pronged approach: it's resumes, interviews and doing background checks on the person and how they performed in the job in the past. To forego all that and not to give citizens of Townsend the opportunity to hear from some of the other candidates was kind of a slap in the face."

Since Klein will remain on the committee for now, it will be able to operate with a quorum of four members. The Finance Committee met Tuesday night, where Klein briefly explained that he will remain in his position until a replacement is found before addressing normal business.

On May 19, the town posted advertisements for the openings on the committee, and anyone interested must submit a volunteer response form by Friday to be considered, Barrett said. The moderator said "it will be a bit of a challenge" to fill four positions in one cycle.

"If there's anyone out there, especially with some financial experience that's interested in serving the town, they can file a volunteer response form and ask to be considered," he said. "We do need some people to fill those ranks."

In the email providing the letter, Smart said she believes the resignations were associated with a movement to recall her and fellow Selectman Gordon Clark.

In recent weeks, that movement has also opposed the steps taken to hire Kreidler. Two members filed a complaint against Kreidler alleging he disclosed sensitive information to them. However, the Board of Selectmen found that complaint to be without merit earlier this month.

"Since the three members that recently resigned are members of the recall group, my intuition is this is political maneuvering, but that is just my opinion," Smart wrote in her email.

Representatives from the recall group later said in a statement that they had no involvement with the Finance Committee members who resigned.

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